A taxonomic review of Prays Hübner, 1825 (Lepidoptera, Yponomeutoidea, Praydidae) from China with descriptions of two new species Jae-Cheon Sohn & Chun-Sheng Wu Our review of the Chinese species of Prays Hübner, 1825 proposes two new species: Prays kalligraphos sp. n., from Sichuan, and P. tineiformis sp. n., from Hainan, and reports one new record of Prays delta Moriuti, 1977. External morphology and genitalia are described and illustrated. Keys to all seven Chinese Prays are provided for the adults and genitalia of each sex where available. Jae-Cheon Sohn*, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, 4112 Plant Sciences Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA. [email protected] Chun-Sheng Wu, Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, China. [email protected] Introduction forewing chorda, antennal scape without pecten, Praydides are a group of Yponomeutoidea whose one-segmented maxillary palpi, and the abdominal systematic position remains uncertain. In the terga without spines (Dugdale et al. 1998). last century, two opinions of their placement in Yponomeutoidea were prevalent: i.e. as a sub- Prays Hübner, 1825 is the largest, if not only, genus family of Yponomeutidae (Kyrki 1990, Dugdale et of Praydidae with globally 40 described species al. 1998) or as a subfamily of Plutellidae (Heppner (Lewis & Sohn, unpublished). The genus may not be 1998). This is apparently due to their mosaic char- familiar even to lepidopterists, but the leaf-mining acteristics which fail to show complete affinity with or bud-boring larvae occasionally cause substantial either family (Pierce & Metcalfe 1935, Friese 1960, economic losses in agriculture (Carter 1984), as seen Moriuti 1977). Recently a status as separate family in two European pest species, the Olive moth, Prays has been proposed based on a rigorous molecular- oleae (Bernard, 1788), and the Citrus blossom moth, phylogenetic study (Mutanen et al. 2010). This new Prays citri (Millière, 1873). Adults of the genus are classification has been accepted by the latest pub- not readily conspicuous and thus they are often lications (Karsholt & Van Nieukerken 2011, Van neglected in field collecting or during specimen cura- Nieukerken et al. 2011 in press). We follow this tion. In the last few decades, a very limited number opinion which assigns the Prays-group to its own of descriptive works for the group have been pub- family Praydidae. lished (e.g. Landry & Landry 1998; Agassiz 2007). Consequently the species diversity remains greatly The family is easily recognized by its unique modi- under-estimated. Given the ill-defined generic fication of the eighth abdominal segment and by boundary of Prays, a critical revision for the species their genitalia. The broadly enlarged male sternum should improve our understanding of the group VIII and the greatly reduced female apophyses ante- The genus Prays is represented in almost all zoogeo- riores are amongst these characteristics (Kyrki 1984). graphic regions but the species are regionally concen- Other characters that help to distinguish them trated. East Asia is one region where high diversity from other yponomeutoid families include loss of of the group is observed and still largely unknown. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 154: 25–32, Figs 1–8. [ISSN 0040–7496]. http://www.nev.nl/tve © 2011 Nederlandse Entomologische Vereniging. Published 1 June 2011. Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 01:28:00AM *Corresponding author via free access 26 Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, volume 154, 2011 Genus Prays Hübner, 1825 China is especially promising for finding new spe- cies, because its fauna remains little explored. A total This genus is closest to Atemelia but differs from of four species of Prays are known from China (Qian the latter by the lack of a pecten on the antennal 1980, Yu & Li 2004), which is much less than the scape, the ascending labial palpus, the absence of 12 species recorded from Japan (Moriuti 1977, Oku a medial process on the eighth tergite of the male 2003). (misinterpreted as “uncus” by Moriuti 1977) and The aims of this paper are to describe two new spe- the presence of a saccular process in the male geni- cies of Prays from China, to update the Chinese talia. Also Moriuti (1977) mentioned these distinc- fauna of the genus with the new record of P. delta tive characteristics between the two genera. In fact, Moriuti, 1977 and to provide keys for the Chinese defining Prays in comparison with other genera has species. been hampered by the heterogeneous character states in the genus. To deal with this heterogeneity, Moriuti (1977) suggested separating them into two groups, Material and methods based on the width of the valvula in male genitalia Dried specimens were obtained from the Institute and the presence/absence of a digitate process on the of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS), lamellae postvaginales. This distinction turned out Beijing, China. The specimens were compared to to be no more than a classification for convenience, species in the United States National Museum of considering its mosaic occurrence; for example, Prays Natural History, Washington DC, USA (USNM) cingulata Yu & Li, 2004 which falls into “Group A” and the Natural History Museum, London, UK according to the female characters and in “Group B” (BMNH). In those cases where actual specimens sensu Moriuti (1977) according to the male genital are not available, descriptions in the literature were characters. referred to, in order to complete our review and keys. The selected specimens were dissected for examina- A checklist of Chinese Prays tion of genitalia and abdominal structures, following Prays alpha Moriuti, 1977 Clarke (1941) except that chlorozal black was used Prays cingulata Yu & Li, 2004 as stain. Genitalia slides were prepared by mounting Prays delta Moriuti, 1977 with Euparal Medium and Essence (BioQuip), and Prays inconspicua Yu & Li, 2004 examined under a microscope (Leica MZ APO and Prays kalligraphos Sohn & Wu, sp. n. Leica LETTZ-DMRX). Terminology follows Klots Prays lobata Yu & Li, 2004 (1970) for genitalia and Forbes (1948) for wing Prays tineiformis Sohn & Wu, sp. n. venation. Key to the Chinese species of Prays based on external appearance Systematic accounts 1. Wingspan not exceeding 10 mm . tineiformis – Wingspan over 10 mm . 2 Family Praydidae Moriuti, 1977 2. Forewing unicolorous . 3 – Forewing mottled . 4 Because the world fauna of Yponomeutoidea has 3. Forewing termen oblique . inconspicua never been thoroughly studied, the taxonomic – Forewing termen nearly perpendicular to boundary of Praydidae remains unstable. Moriuti apex . delta (1977) originally defined the family, based on only 4. Forewing intermixed with white . 5 two genera, Prays and Atemelia Herrich-Schäffer, – Forewing without whitish area . 6 1853. Distagmos Herrich-Schäffer, 1853 has been 5. Forewing with white predominant; labial added to the group by Karsholt & Razowski (1996) palpus speckled with white on all three seg- in their catalogue of the European Lepidoptera. ments . cingulata Kyrki (1990) first reviewed most, if not all, of the – Forewing with gray predominant; labial pal- world genera and synonymized Orinympha Meyrick, pus tinged with white only around apex . 1927 with Atemelia and also included the Nearctic . kalligraphos Eucatagma Busck, 1900 in the family. However, his 6. Forewing with well-defined, oblique, fuscous suggestions have not been universally accepted. A median line . alpha critical review of all praydid genera to confirm their – Forewing with diffused fuscous median line relationship is being conducted by the first author . lobata (JCS). Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 01:28:00AM via free access Sohn & Wu: A taxonomic review of Chinese Prays 27 Key to the Chinese species of Prays based on Distribution male genitalia China (Heilongjiang) and Japan. Prays kalligraphos is excluded because the male is unknown. Prays cingulata Yu & Li 1. Valva elongate, slender . 2 Prays cingulata Yu & Li, 2004: 15 (type locality: Xishui, – Valva lobate . 5 Guizhou, China) 2. Valva divided at apex . 3 – Valva undivided at apex . 4 Diagnosis 3. A long, strong, spine like cornutus . delta This species is superficially similar to P. iota from – Cornuti as a cluster of spinules . lobata Japan by its pale grayish forewing with mottled pat- 4. Socius with several denticles . alpha tern, but differs from the latter by the paler forewing – Socius without denticles . inconspicua ground color and presence of a broad semicircular 5. Socius with two spines . tineiformis fuscous area on the middle of costa. The genital fea- – Socius without spine . cingulata tures indicate that it belongs to “Group B” sensu Moriuti (1977). Its male and female genitalia are Key to the Chinese species of Prays based on close to P. omicron Moriuti, 1977 but differ from female genitalia the latter by the slender socii, distally broadened sac- Pray inconspicua and P. lobata are excluded, because cus, smaller membraneous area around ostium, and the females are unknown. larger cervix area of corpus bursae. 1. Lamella postvaginalis with digitate process . 2 Material examined. 1?, Wunquan, Yunnan Prov., – Lamella postvaginalis without digitate process . 3 21 VIII 1990, genitalia slide no. IOZ-09039, IZCAS. 2. Digitate process on lamella postvaginalis longer than ductus bursae . kalligraphos Distribution – Digitate process on lamella postvaginalis China (Guizhou and Yunnan). shorter than ductus bursae . cingulata 3. Signum present . 4 Prays delta Moriuti – Signum absent . delta Figs 2, 5 & 5a 4. Ductus bursae sclerotized . alpha – Ductus bursae membranous . tineiformis Prays delta Moriuti, 1977: 122–123 (type locality: Mt. Ta- tesinayama, Honshu, Japan) Prays alpha Moriuti Diagnosis Fig. 1 Forewing length 7.5 mm (n=1). This species is dif- Prays alpha Moriuti, 1977: 119–121 (type locality: Asa- ficult to distinguish from other unicolorous con- hikawa, Hokkaido, Japan); Qian, 1980: 509. geners such as P. gamma, P. epsilon, P. omicron and P. kappa, all of which were described by Moriuti Diagnosis (1977). Although careful comparison of the head Forewing length 7mm (n=2).